Haacke's legless skink

Haacke's legless skink (Typhlosaurus braini), also known commonly as Brain's legless skink and Brain's blind legless skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Namibia.

Etymology

The specific name, braini, is in honor of paleontologist Charles Kimberlin Brain.

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of T. braini is desert, at altitudes of .

Description

T. braini is limbless, slender, and uniformly light pink. Adults have a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of .

Behavior

Having no limbs, T. braini "swims" in sand dunes, both under the surface and at the surface.

Diet

The diet of T. braini consists of termites and insect larvae.

Reproduction

T. braini is viviparous.

Predators

T. braini is preyed upon by the Namib golden mole (Eremitalpa granti namibensis).

References

Further reading

• Broadley DG (1968). "A review of the African genus Typhlosaurus Wiegmann (Sauria: Scincidae)". Arnoldia (Rhodesia) 3 (36): 1–20.
• (1964). "Description of two new species of lizards and notes on Fitzsimonsia brevipes (FitzSimons) from the central Namib desert". Scientific Papers of the Namib Desert Research Station 25: 1–15. (Typhlosaurus braini, new species, p. 5).
• Haacke WD (1975). "Herpetological investigations in the sand sea of the southern Namib". Transvaal Museum Bulletin (15): 8–10.
• , , (2010). "A phylogenetic reassessment of African fossorial skinks in the subfamily Acontinae (Squamata: Scincidae): evidence for parallelism and polyphyly". Zootaxa 2657: 33–46.